NFL: Gil Brandt's 25 greatest NFL running backs of all time (Emmitt 11th)

[noshame]

That's nuts

That said. If u put Touchdown Tony on the 90's team
Damn

 

[Diehardblues]

To be fair, I also took a sports history class in college in which we talked about Jackie a bit(because why the hell wouldn't we?) and that's why I remembered him being a 4 sport athlete. That helps lol. Best elective I took for sure(I was engineering so nice break from heavy math and science).

But yea, Jackie is a hell of an athlete.

And yea, I'm, uh, 33. We'll go with that....

Very interesting . Sports History 101.

I minored in History and we never had a class offered on sports . But that was over 40 years ago.

Researching history, reading and watching are very informative and educational but nothing replaces real life experiences .

I wrote my paper on the Great Depression . The interviews I had and quoted from my parents and grandparents real life experiences is what garnered the recognition from our professor that he shared and had published in their journal not because it was well written because he marked off greatly for my poor writing skills but it was the passion and the experiences from that era which moved him.

The lesson here is there is no replacement for living the experience and the impact it has on you which can’t be depicted from researching or watching a video.

I attended that Super Bowl in Miami on January 21st 1979. Bob Lilly gave us his personal 35 yard line seats. He was a family friend. Play with my uncle at TCU and we did business with him for years .

It was my first Super Bowl and still my greatest sports experience of my life. I was so proud as defending champs and while it was a tough loss the experience still stands out more than the loss.

 

[Roadtrip635]

You should go watch some tapes of Earl Campbell his first 5 years!!!!!!

The list gets much longer if you only take 5 years. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Earl and have had the chance to speak with him at length at least a couple dozen times, but think longevity and durability is part of the equation, at least for me.

If it's 4th and 2, I'm picking Earl every time and not hesitating. I'll even stand on Emmitt's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that!

 

[Diehardblues]

The list gets much longer if you only take 5 years. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Earl and have had the chance to speak with him at length at least a couple dozen times, but think longevity and durability is part of the equation, at least for me.

If it's 4th and 2, I'm picking Earl every time and not hesitating. I'll even stand on Emmitt's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that!

What was amazing with Earl is defenses stacked the box and still couldn’t stop him.

I first saw him at Tyler High School in the playoffs. He was already a celebrity by then and the most awesome and dominating HS player I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a bunch here .

Eric Dickerson was 2nd most dominating I saw here and he was at 2A Sealy. Tyler was 4A which was largest class at that time.

I’ve never been a fan of Houston teams but it was difficult not to root for Earl. Even when he was at Texas I saw him live 3 times , twice at Baylor. He had like 44 inch thighs if I recall correctly. Talk about looking tough in shorts. Never seen anything like him in person that wasn’t a lineman.

 

[Roadtrip635]

What was amazing with Earl is defenses stacked the box and still couldn’t stop him.

I first saw him at Tyler High School in the playoffs. He was already a celebrity by then and the most awesome and dominating HS player I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a bunch here .

Eric Dickerson was 2nd most dominating I saw here and he was at 2A Sealy. Tyler was 4A which was largest class at that time.

I’ve never been a fan of Houston teams but it was difficult not to root for Earl. Even when he was at Texas I saw him live 3 times , twice at Baylor. He had like 44 inch thighs if I recall correctly. Talk about looking tough in shorts. Never seen anything like him in person that wasn’t a lineman.

The greatest stiff arm I ever saw in football at any level was by Earl against Michael downs in the UT/Rice game. Downs was matched against Earl 1on1 and Earl bearing down with a full head of steam. I don't even know it would be considered a proper stiff arm, Earl reached out with his left arm, grabbed Downs by the throat, lifted him completely off the ground, carried him, one-handed, 5 yards and into the end zone and spiked Downs like a football when he crossed the goal line. It was nasty.

 

[Diehardblues]

The greatest stiff arm I ever saw in football at any level was by Earl against Michael downs in the UT/Rice game. Downs was matched against Earl 1on1 and Earl bearing down with a full head of steam. I don't even know it would be considered a proper stiff arm, Earl reached out with his left arm, grabbed Downs by the throat, lifted him completely off the ground, carried him, one-handed, 5 yards and into the end zone and spiked Downs like a football when he crossed the goal line. It was nasty.

Interesting . Earl last season at Texas was 1977 drafted in 1978 and Downs played for Rice 1978-1980.

You sure that wasn’t in NFL?

I knew when Earl played but had to look up Michael which he was a 3 year starter at Rice from 1978-1980. Drafted in 81.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

Very interesting . Sports History 101.

I minored in History and we never had a class offered on sports . But that was over 40 years ago.

Researching history, reading and watching are very informative and educational but nothing replaces real life experiences .

I wrote my paper on the Great Depression . The interviews I had and quoted from my parents and grandparents real life experiences is what garnered the recognition from our professor that he shared and had published in their journal not because it was well written because he marked off greatly for my poor writing skills but it was the passion and the experiences from that era which moved him.

The lesson here is there is no replacement for living the experience and the impact it has on you which can’t be depicted from researching or watching a video.

I attended that Super Bowl in Miami on January 21st 1979. Bob Lilly gave us his personal 35 yard line seats. He was a family friend. Play with my uncle at TCU and we did business with him for years .

It was my first Super Bowl and still my greatest sports experience of my life. I was so proud as defending champs and while it was a tough loss the experience still stands out more than the loss.

Yea, it was a great course. The prof. has written a number of books, including one on Muhammad Ali. Also taught a soccer&international politics course?

 

[Roadtrip635]

Interesting . Earl last season at Texas was 1977 drafted in 1978 and Downs played for Rice 1978-1980.

You sure that wasn’t in NFL?

I knew when Earl played but had to look up Michael which he was a 3 year starter at Rice from 1978-1980. Drafted in 81.

It was definitely Michael Downs, there have been articles and Downs has spoke about before. He was a freshman in '77

 

[kskboys]

These lists are fun to spark debate, but there's really no method to formulating an accurate "greatest of all time" list.

Having said that, leaving the all time leading rusher out of the top 10 seems odd.

Drew Brees will retire the all time passing leader, and he's not top 10 all time.

Bruce Smith has the most sacks, I don't think he's top 10 all time.

 

[Diehardblues]

Yea, it was a great course. The prof. has written a number of books, including one on Muhammad Ali. Also taught a soccer&international politics course?

I’m a huge fan of Ali. A few years ago was in Louisville and visited his museum.

 

[Diehardblues]

It was definitely Michael Downs, there have been articles and Downs has spoke about before. He was a freshman in '77

Ok . Yea Freshman we’re allowed to play again by that time. Funny his bio only mentioned he played for Rice 3 years but that makes sense.

 

[Floatyworm]

Emmitt was great and his longevity and OL and offensive philosophy are why he holds the record.
However, Jim Brown, Gayle Sayers, Barry Sanders, Walter Peyton, OJ Simpson were all far better running backs. Then Marcus Allen, Bo Jackson, Earl Campbell and others are right there as well. Holding the all time yardage record is great, but that doesn’t mean you were the greatest RB.

Emmitt had more heart than all of them....Which made him the greatest IMO. Look @ that list....

Jim Brown....quitter...didn't want to take the punishment anymore.
Gayle Sayers,....quit because of injury
Barry Sanders,..quitter because he just didn't see why he should put forth the effort for a so-so organization.
Walter Peyton,...won a ring...hung them up.
OJ Simpson...decided to hop on the crazy train.

After 3 rings...could have walked away...but Emmitt continued to play.

 

[OmerV]

I don't know why anybody cares about lists made by morons.

The moron that made this list probably has a lot to do with why you and everyone else here are Cowboy fans. He was a big part of building the Cowboys from the ground up and helping them become "America's Team".

I don't necessarily agree with his list, but the main is a key figure in the history of the Cowboys.

 

[OmerV]

Emmitt had more heart than all of them....Which made him the greatest IMO. Look @ that list....

Jim Brown....quitter...didn't want to take the punishment anymore.
Gayle Sayers,....quit because of injury
Barry Sanders,..quitter because he just didn't see why he should put forth the effort for a so-so organization.
Walter Peyton,...won a ring...hung them up.
OJ Simpson...decided to hop on the crazy train.

After 3 rings...could have walked away...but Emmitt continued to play.

This is laughable nonsense.

How does quitting because his knees were completely shot mean Sayers didn't have heart? It took a huge heart to come back from the 2 knee surgeries, which was a much bigger deal in the 60's than it is today.

In any case, the thread isn't about who was willing to stick it out the longest anyway.

Payton played 2 more seasons after the Super Bowl, so your characterization is off base. Even so, I have to wonder how anyone that ever watched Payton play could question his heart.

What does Simpson's later in life behavior have to do with his heart as a player?

 

[Roadtrip635]

Emmitt had more heart than all of them....Which made him the greatest IMO. Look @ that list....

Jim Brown....quitter...didn't want to take the punishment anymore.
Gayle Sayers,....quit because of injury
Barry Sanders,..quitter because he just didn't see why he should put forth the effort for a so-so organization.
Walter Peyton,...won a ring...hung them up.
OJ Simpson...decided to hop on the crazy train.

After 3 rings...could have walked away...but Emmitt continued to play.

You might as well say that Earl Campbell was a quitter, he only wanted to play 8 years. Go ahead, I dare you to tell Earl to his face, that he's a quitter.

 

[cowboy_ron]

Sooo, when talking about the top 10 greatest RB's of all time the NFL's all-time leading rusher is ranked 11th?......makes you wonder why one of the top 10 don't have that title.

 

[Little Jr]

Sayers, Bo and TD are the 3 I have a issue with being ahead of Smith. Sayers and Bo because of their short careers. TD was Gil guy so I think there is some bias there lol.

The rest I have no issues with. I don't necessarily agree with all of them but there is a good argument for them to be ranked ahead of smith.

 

[xwalker]

The moron that made this list probably has a lot to do with why you and everyone else here are Cowboy fans. He was a big part of building the Cowboys from the ground up and helping them become "America's Team".

I don't necessarily agree with his list, but the main is a key figure in the history of the Cowboys.

He can't have it both ways with Bo Jackson.

If he is ranking by pure athletic ability then Bo is should be #1.

If he is ranking by impact as an NFL RB, then Bo is not in the top 10.

Bo had 16 career rushing TDs. Emmitt had multiple seasons with more TDs than Bo had in his career.

Gil Brandt was great in his day; however, most Landry era guys are biased against Jerry era Cowboys.

Also, Gil is senile. He has put out some draft info that was way off in the past few years.

 

[OmerV]

He can't have it both ways with Bo Jackson.

If he is ranking by pure athletic ability then Bo is should be #1.

If he is ranking by impact as an NFL RB, then Bo is not in the top 10.

Bo had 16 career rushing TDs. Emmitt had multiple seasons with more TDs than Bo had in his career.

Gil Brandt was great in his day; however, most Landry era guys are biased against Jerry era Cowboys.

Also, Gil is senile. He has put out some draft info that was way off in the past few years.

It's his list, so he gets to use whatever criteria he chooses. I doubt he is looking solely at either athletic ability or impact - probably some combination of factors. My bet is impact and ability are the key factors, with some degree of longevity being applicable, but only to the extent that the RB played long enough to prove he wasn't a fluke. Pretty clearly he is looking at more than longevity based stats.

I have disagreements with Brandt on the list, but the biggest probably is that he put Dorsett ahead of Emmitt. I have to wonder if there is some bias in that choice given that he played a part in the decision to draft Dorsett.

 

[xwalker]

It's his list, so he gets to use whatever criteria he chooses. I doubt he is looking solely at either athletic ability or impact - probably some combination of factors. My bet is impact and ability are the key factors, with some degree of longevity being applicable, but only to the extent that the RB played long enough to prove he wasn't a fluke. Pretty clearly he is looking at more than longevity based stats.

I have disagreements with Brandt on the list, but the biggest probably is that he put Dorsett ahead of Emmitt. I have to wonder if there is some bias in that choice given that he played a part in the decision to draft Dorsett.

If he has no criteria and just makes up a list based on emotion, then me and thousands of other people are going to call it moronic.

Adrian Peterson at #14 is silly. It wouldn't be difficult to make a case for him as #1 overall.

I'm a big fan of Dorsett but I think very few people would rank him over Emmitt or Adrian Peterson.

I'm also a big fan of Bo Jackson the athlete. I think he is one of the greatest pure athletes that ever lived; however, his accomplishments at RB pale compared to the others. If the list is values pure athletic ability that highly, then Barry Sanders and Adrian Peterson would have to be much higher.